08 April 2010

Chapter Three

1.

How shall I worship that Atman great, which is neither personal nor impersonal. Taintless, above love and aversion, uncreated, all pervasive, of the form of the universe, having no attributes, yet not attributeless That all-bliss Shiva, my Self.

2.

How shall I bow down to mine own Self, in my own Self, and by my Self? I have no colours, white or yellow; eternal Shiva am I.

3.

I am rootless, and without root, free from smoke, and smokeless am I, without a lamp, and lightless am I, equanimity am I, like a sun ever-risen.

4.

How can I name the passionless, desireless One as having desires? The Absolute cannot be described in terms of conditions; how can I speak of myself? I am neither with an essence, nor am I without an essence. Space-like all equanimity am I.

5.

How shall I say that non-duality is all this creation, or that, or that? Even if it be duality, then too I cannot attribute creation or dissolution to It. How can the Eternal, the All be expressed in any way? Space-like, all-bliss am I.

6.

Neither gross nor subtle is my Atman; It comes not, and It goes not; without a beginning and without an end; neither higher nor lower is It; that Truth absolute, space-like, immortality-giving knowledge am I.

7.

Know well that all the senses are as space, and so also their objects. Know that the One is taintless, The One is neither bound nor free. That all-pervasive ever-blissful Shiva, immortality-giving knowledge am I.

8.

The knowledge of the Self, hard to obtain, which is experienced, is not Atman; The object of meditation, hard to concentrate upon, is not Atman; That which is near, and that which is far, far away, is not Atman. Space-like, all-bliss Shiva am I, Shiva am I.

9.

Without karma am I, I burn up karmas; without pain am I, I burn up sufferings; bodiless, homeless am I, and yet I burn up these, all equanimity, space-like am I.

10.

The seed of the plant of the world exists not in me, contentment and pleasures exist not in me; bondage and ignorance are not in me; space-like, absolute Shiva am I.

11.

Atman is not the Knower, nor is It the known. It is not accessible to inference. Words cannot describe This Consciousness Absolute. The mind is lost in Its majesty. How can It be explained to thee? Space-like, immortality-giving knowledge am I.

12.

There is no separation and no unity in It. Neither is It inner nor outer. It is Truth transcendental. It cannot be said "It was all before." Verily, nothing exists but Atman. And that space-like immortality-giving Knowledge am I.

13.

I am the eternal principle. Free from attachment and aversion, free from imperfections am I, fate and providence exist not in me. Eternally free from the sufferings of the world, verily, space-like, immortality-giving Knowledge am I.

14.

As the three states of consciousness exist not in Atman, how can It be the fourth? Free from past, present and future, how can the cardinal points exist in It? Eternal peace, space-like, transcendental Truth am I.

15.

Neither father nor mother have I, neither wife nor child. Birth and death I do not know. The mind is not my own. Eternal peace, space-like, transcendental Peace am I.

16.

Devas and Gods, like Indra and Brahma, have no place in Atman. Neither Paradise nor Heaven exist in Atman. The one, taintless, transcendental Truth am I.

17.

The saying of the Shruti, "not this, not this", does not apply to Atman. How can it be said, "When all is subtracted Atman alone remains"? It is symbolical, but not a symbol; yet even this cannot be said of Atman. Space-like, the water of immortality am I.

18.

Maya is not my modification. Nor is its glamour mine. Deceit and hypocrisy, truth and untruth, have no place in me. Space-like, immortality-giving knowledge am I.